HLB (Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance) of Surfactants

Manufacturer: We are latex glove  manufacturer. Further to your various postings on surfactants, can you please briefly explain the meaning of "HLB' and give examples of its uses.

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): HLB stands for Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance. It is related to the proportion of hydrophilic (i.e. water loving) and lipophilic (i.e. oil loving) groups in the molecule of the surfactant.


It allows one to predict the surfactant properties and is based on a scale from zero to 20 with HLB of below 10 indicating low water solubility while HLB of above 10 indicating high water solubility.

The following are examples of HLB and areas of applications:

HLB	Applications
4-6	W/O (Water in Oil) emulsifiers
7-9	Wetting agents
8-12	O/W (Oil in Water) emulsifiers
13-15	Detergents
15-18	Solubilizers

Hence the surfactants that concern you are those with HLB of around 3 which is the anti-foaming and anti-webbing agents and HLB of about 7-9 which are the wetting agents which you can use in the coagulant.